Letters of Love
by Mistletoe Moon
Summary: This is a twist on your normal LilyJames meeting-and-falling-in-love story. Instead of being together all the time, they write letters back and forth. Yay for fluff! COMPLETE
1. Meeting in the Library

A/N: Wow, it's been so long since I've written anything!  I feel bad…anyways, here's a L/J fic!  I've completely stolen the plot line of "Roses of Yesterday," a short story in this book I read…it's so sweet!  Hm.  I've basically cut out some characters (i.e. Peter, Malfoy, Snape), but I might add them back in there if I feel like it…Lily is at Beauxbatons, and James is at Hogwarts.  Lily is muggle-born; James is from a pureblood family going back ages.  They were both born in England, but Lily and her parents moved because of Lily's father's job.  This story starts the summer before their seventh year.  Sounds good?  Okay!  On y va!

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A slim, petite redhead walked into Stemson Library holding a copy of _The Count of Monte Cristo_.  She had heard of the _Donate a Book_ program to help disabled children, and was there to do her part.  The library would sell books as a fundraiser.  After depositing her book in the box, the girl looked around.  Everything was as she had remembered it in the muggle library: a mixture of creamy white and silky purple décor flooding the room, swirling in gorgeous patterns.  She had not been here for about six years, ever since her father had been selected to be the English ambassador to France.

Ah, her life had changed so much in those six years.  She had received a letter from a school called Beauxbatons, and this letter had opened up a whole new world of magic to her.  Her sister had decided that she would not be coming with the family to France, and had stayed instead at a boarding school in England, where she proceeded to grow more and more sour.

The girl sighed…what a life.  And what a place to be thinking of these things.  She walked out of the library…and bumped into a medium-height brunette…Arabella Figg!

"Bella?  Is that you?"

The brunette stared at her intensely, and the redhead was afraid she would say something along the lines of "Sorry, I think you've mistaken me for another person…" but she didn't.  Suddenly, realization lit up the brunette's eyes.

"Lily Evans!  Oh my goodness!  It's been so long!  Six years?  How are you?"

"Oh, Bella!  I was afraid I was wrong…it _has_ been so long, hasn't it?  I've missed you so much!"

"Well, you _do_ still get mail from me, you know."

"Yes, but not enough."

"So, have you been back here during those six years?"

"Of course not, this is my first time."

"And just what do you think you're doing young lady, without telling you _best friend_ that you're back?"

"I'm not back to stay, Bella.  I'm just here to visit for a week.  And I was going to surprise you by turning up on your doorstep."

Bella chuckled and shook her head.

"It's just like you to do something like that, Lily."

"I know."

"So…let's not stand here the whole day…let's go to Diagon Alley!"

"Good idea; I haven't been there in ages!"

So the two girls exited the library and set off for the wizarding world.  They spent a wonderful afternoon shopping all over, and then retreated to Bella's house for the night, where they shared secrets and talked until dawn broke.  Since Lily wasn't too hot about staying with her aunt, who was rather similar to Petunia, she arranged to stay with Bella the whole week, and the two passed six more wonderful days together until Lily had to return to France, for school would start the next week, and she wanted to be ready; she would be Head Girl of Beauxbatons Academy this year.

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A/N: Ugh, short chapter, I just wanted to introduce Lily and Bella, who've been best friends since FOREVER or somewhere near that.  Next chapter: James and how he "meets" Lily…only not.  But yeah.  Hope you all will still be with me…can I get any reviews to see how you all like it so far?  I'm thinking of writing another L/J fic with the same basic beginning, only Lily tells Bella that she's moving back to England.  That way we get some L/J action the whole year…this one's going to be mainly through letters, and I assume it'll be quite short.  Maybe five chapters?  Please keep reading though; I promise it'll get better.  Reviews please? 


	2. Buying a Book

A/N: Hopefully I can get this chapter out tonight…but I doubt it.  Let's see…I'll try.

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"Why are we going to the _library_ of all places?" Sirius Black sputtered.

"To buy books," Remus Lupin responded good-naturedly.

"Duh," James Potter added, just for measure.

"And remind me, _why_ are we buying books?" Sirius asked.

Remus sighed.  "Stemson Library is holding its annual fundraiser.  Some people help by donating books.  Some people help by buying books.  The money goes to a program for disabled children."

"Since you obviously don't _have_ any books, Sirius, we get to _buy_ some for you.  Although, we could probably just save the money and help our disabled friend here, don't you think, Remus?"

"Hey!  I do _too_ have books!  And I'm not disabled.  So there!" Sirius retorted.

Rolling his eyes, Remus pushed the double doors of the library open and walked inside, his two bickering friends trailing behind him.

"Guys, I'm just going to leave you alone for a while, and I'm going to go pick out a few books for myself.  James, make sure he buys something," Remus said.

The poor boy's words fell on deaf ears, for James and Sirius were still arguing.  With a sigh, Remus walked off.

James and Sirius meandered around the library for a bit, trying to find books to "help the common effort" as Sirius put it.  Finally they decided to split up, for though the two boys were the best of friends, James was not interested in Sirius' choice of books, and Sirius was not interested in James'.

James headed toward the "Classics" section for a bit of intellectual reading; Remus had suggested _The Count of Monte Cristo_ last year for a bit of "light" reading, and James had loved it immediately.  He wanted a copy for himself, but highly doubted that anyone would donate such a lovely book.  But he was in luck, and found a copy on the bookshelf.

He picked it up and looked inside.  In the margins, written in beautiful, neat, flowing script were little notes and annotations about the book.  James read a few and was immediately amazed at how in depth the person who had made the annotations thought.  Such intelligence!  Such brilliance!  What a mind!  James _had_ to know who this person was.  _I will find this person,_ he vowed to himself.

Just then, he heard his name being called by none other than the infamous Sirius Black.

"Ready, James?"

"Yes, yes, coming."

"Okay good!  You've just _got_ to see this book I'm going to buy…it's so funny…it's a joke book…great stuff Muggles have…"

James rolled his eyes and the two set off toward the checkout desk, where they found Remus paying for his bag full of books.  They paid for their books and left the library in high spirits.  James did not think more about the book he had bought until two months later, on a rainy day where water poured down from the skies and it was too wet for anyone to set foot outdoors, a day where Remus was animatedly talking to Stella Simantra (who had liked him and he had liked for ages but both were too shy to say a word) and Sirius was sitting in the corner making out with Bella, his girlfriend for ages.  It was on this day that James decided to take out _The Count of Monte Cristo_.

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A/N: I hope you like this story better…no real action yet.  Probably not until the next next chapter.  The one coming up is about him finding out about Lily and writing a letter to her.  Then there will be Lily responding to the letter and a bit about her life at Beauxbatons…etc., etc., I can't afford to give away the whole thing! 


	3. James' Letter

A/N: It's been so long...here we go!  
  
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James took out The Count of Monte Cristo. His two friends being too busy to notice him or even talk to him, he had decided to just go read on his bed. There was really nothing to do; he couldn't go outside without drowning, and there wasn't really anyone to talk to. So he had to read. Not that he minded though, he wasn't the most intellectual of all the people one could know, but he was by no means stupid or lazy. So all in all, he was fine with reading a book, especially when it had been recommended by one of his best friends. As soon as it was on his bed, James remembered. The annotations—they were...amazing. There was no way to describe it. And he had fallen in love with the handwriting too. Complete and total love at first sight. Better hope it's a woman, Prongs, he thought to himself. Let's not go gay here. And why am I falling in love with annotations of all things? I'm psycho. He sighed. Ah, well, he had better things to do than mope around all day on his bed. James began to flip through the pages. Perhaps he would find a few clues here and there about who the book had belonged to. But his search was fruitless; there was nothing in the pages indicating who the previous owner had been. Or was there? On one of the last few pages, a bookmark was carefully tucked inside. Said bookmark was a beautiful work of art, a thin piece of hard silver metal engraved with beautiful floral patterns and a picture of a mink. In the center was an oval with the name "Lily Aurora Evans." And James' heart flew out from his ribcage, into his throat. He was elated, for now he had a clue.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Dear Lily," James wrote. Is this too informal? he thought. I could write Ms. Evans...but she might be Mrs. Evans. Or I could write Miss Evans, and that would work too. It would solve many problems that way. James erased his first line and replaced it with "Dear Miss Evans." "My name is James Harold Potter. I bought a book from the Stemson Library last summer, and that book happened to be The Count of Monte Cristo, a book which you donated. I do not understand how it was that you came to give up such a precious gem of a book after spending such time and effort writing such intricate notes, however, I do not believe you meant to also give away your bookmark. I hope I am not troubling you by returning it. And if it's not too personal, might I inquire who you are? I am fascinated with your notes, and I believe that if you would permit it, we could become very good friends. Please do not respond if this letter offends you, and my deepest apologies if it does.  
  
"Sincerely, James Harold Potter"  
  
James sealed an envelope containing this letter, and tied it to the leg of Midnight, his ebony-black owl. Midnight had proven that he could find anyone, no matter where the person was, so James had faith in him once again. With a pat on the head on James' part and a indignant click of the beak on Midnight's part, the owl flew through the window of Hogwarts castle. It was only then that James remembered that if a muggle were to see a huge, jet-black owl flying through the window, she would be very afraid...Oh shoot... he thought to himself.  
  
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A/N: Short, short, short...I know! Sorry! Please review anyways? I'm not sure whether I should continue this fic...no one is really reviewing it... 


	4. The Prophecy

A/N: Wow, I just re-read the last chapter, and it's freakishly short!  I'm so amazed…it takes me so long to write so little!  It looks like a lot on Microsoft Word, but really, it's NOTHING!  Though I've gotten three reviews *sniff* I'm going to keep writing.  Partially because I like my own story, and partially because the three special people who reviewed it like it too J.  Oh plus, I forgot to save the last one in HTML format, which is why it looks weird.  I'll change it if I have time.

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Midnight flew out of James' dormitory window.  Of course, he had no idea where to find "Miss Lily Aurora Evans," as the envelope was addressed.  So, he went to the Owl Central Headquarters.

The OCH was located high up on a mountain in the middle of the French Juras.  Local villagers called this mountain "Montagne des Hiboux," which meant Owl Mountain.  Day and night, owls swarmed around it, and when they did not know where to find a person, this was the place they would come.

Midnight flew over the top of the mountain and through the small opening at the very top.  He landed with a flourish on one of the many stands for owls to perch.  Tired and hungry as he was, he did not stop for food at the food cache; all he wanted was to deliver this letter and get back to the castle.  Midnight lined up with all the other owls and waited for his turn.

"Midnight!  What a pleasure to see you!" a wizard in deep blue robes boomed out.  The man's hair was white with age, and his wrinkled hands picked up the owl in a deft motions.  Midnight cooed.  Aberforth Dumbledore could possibly one of his favorite people other than James.  He was the man who ran Owl Mountain, and he had vowed never to come out of it again, for he was extremely devoted to his feathered friends.

Midnight extended his leg for Aberforth to see.  Aberforth's eyes widened.

"Now is the time," he said in tones of awe.  "It is time."

Midnight cocked his head, as if to ask, _Time for what?_

"Long ago, there was a prophecy made.  A prophecy that stated that there would be a union so strong that nothing could break it apart.  And from this love would come a boy, a boy to defeat a Dark Lord greater than Grindewald himself.  But this union would start only if out of the selflessness of her heart, the woman gave away one of her most treasured possessions.  It would be picked up by her soulmate, her counterpart.  And a correspondence would blossom between the two.  And they would become lovers if only he overcame a test.  But I know not what test, except that it is of love.  And neither does anyone else.  You see, the irony of it all is that he must pass this test without knowing he is being tested.  And none but the two who the prophecy is about may hear the entire prophecy.  Thus, no one knows.  We must let fate unravel itself."

Midnight stared in awe.  Though he was just a young owl, he already understood the importance of this prophecy and James passing a test.  At any rate, he knew he had to deliver this letter.

Aberforth shook himself out of his reverie.  "Ah yes, the girl!  She is at Beauxbatons.  Go to her; she sleeps in the quarters of the Head Girl dormitory!  Good luck!"

With that, Midnight flew up and out of another small hole in the mountain, toward Beauxbatons Academy and his master's soulmate.

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A/N: Nothing sinister's going to happen; I promise!  I know this chapter was short too…so I'll just have to write lots of short chapters!  Yay!  Do you guys want more short chapters, or long chapters but less of them?  Review…please?


	5. Reading The Letter

A/N: Am really going to get this chapter out…sometime…and I'll try not to delay so often.  I'm such a hypocrite…when other people have to delay stuff I am frustrated and/or disappointed, but I delay my own stuff anyways…okay.  Let's get moving!

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"Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!"

Lily awoke immediately, wondering what would be making this noise at two in the morning.

"Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!"

Lily glanced at the window, not expecting to see anything or anyone there.  And she didn't at first.

"Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!"

Yes, there was definitely something there.  Lily walked towards the window and saw an owl as black at the night.  She opened the window carefully and let the owl in, not knowing who would have sent an owl so late.  She was glad that she no longer shared a room with her fellow seventh-years; though the girls were very kind in the daytime, they would kill her rather than allow her to disturb their sleep.

The owl had a note tied to its leg, and Lily removed it, curious as to its contents.  In bold handwriting, she read the following:

"Dear Miss Evans,

My name is James Harold Potter. I bought a book from the Stemson Library last summer, and that book happened to be The Count of Monte Cristo, a book which you donated. I do not understand how it was that you came to give up such a precious gem of a book after spending such time and effort writing such intricate notes, however, I do not believe you meant to also give away your bookmark. I hope I am not troubling you by returning it. And if it's not too personal, might I inquire who you are? I am fascinated with your notes, and I believe that if you would permit it, we could become very good friends. Please do not respond if this letter offends you, and my deepest apologies if it does.  
Sincerely, James Harold Potter"

Lily didn't know what to think.  She _had_ been missing the book; she had two identical copies and had accidentally put her favorite one into the book donation pile.  She'd missed it ever since.  And now the person who had bought this book had found her.  Who was he?  He had not included any information about himself other than the fact that he had found her book.  He couldn't be too bad; he had returned her bookmark, hadn't he?  For all she knew he could have kept it, for no apparent reason.  At any rate, she knew that he was a wizard.  He had certainly been bold to send a piece of mail by owl post; if she'd been a muggle, who knows what might have happened.  But Lily was a witch, and she was used to this sort of thing.  Perhaps he was a decent person.  Lily decided to write back.

"Dear Mr. Potter,

As you know, my name is Lily Aurora Evans, and I am the Head Girl at Beauxbatons Academy in France.  I am of muggle descent; neither one of my parents possessed a fiber of magic.  My father is the ambassador of England to France, and I grew up in England until I was ten years old.  Then my family moved to France to accommodate my father's job."

_Why am I telling him this?_ Lily asked herself.  _I really don't know him at all; he could be some psychotic killer for all I know._  But Lily continued to write anyways.  For some reason, she didn't believe someone with such beautiful handwriting could be a criminal.

"I have an older sister named Petunia, who is married to a man named Vernon Dursley.  They moved to England last month and live in Little Whinging.

"But enough about this boring life of mine.  What about you?  Tell me about your family.  Who are you?  (Despite what you think, I still know nothing about you except that you are a wizard named James Harold Potter and you possess my book.)  Reply to me quickly."

"Sincerely, Lily Evans"

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A/N: Better?  Maybe?  By some freak of nature?  Will try hard to get out longer chapters; it's just that I always want to post right after I write it…and I KNOW this is short.  I'm thinking of trying to end this really soon because finals and all are coming up and I want to have completed all of my ongoing stories by then…and also, I must admit I'm somewhat losing interest in this story.  Be forewarned: I may jump ahead a few months…


	6. It's you

A/N: Here goes.  Sorry for all the lateness and all.

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Letters flew back and forth between a certain James Harold Potter and Lily Aurora Evans.  The months zipped by with notes going back and forth between the two, sprinkled with little hints such as "I hope to meet you one day."  In James' letters he told about his friends, Sirius and Remus, pranks he played on his enemies Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape, the eccentricities of Dumbledore.  In Lily's letters she told of her loneliness at Beauxbatons (for there really weren't that many people she enjoyed being around and talking to), how she missed England, and the constant jeers she received from Petunia, her once-beloved sister.  Through all this, they never once discussed Arabella, so neither Lily nor James knew of her connection to the other.

Finally, June rolled around and both Hogwarts and Beauxbatons were out.  James and Lily had both graduated from their respective schools, and Lily was making plans to go back to her beloved England.  Though she had lived in France for the past seven years, she missed the busy streets of London and the familiar sounds of a British accent.  Besides, what had she to lose?  Her parents wanted her to be happy wherever she went, and her sister, frankly, didn't care.

"Dear James," Lily wrote.

"I'm making arrangements to come back to England.  Would you please meet me at the train station?  I'd like to meet you in person, since we haven't exchanged any photographs or seen each other at all.  I'll be staying at my friend's house, but I was wondering if we could have dinner before I go there; she has a very urgent meeting that day, and she can't afford to miss it.  (No, actually it's a date with her boyfriend, but she doesn't want to miss that either.)  I'd be much obliged if you said yes.

"-Lily"

When James received this note, he didn't know what to think.  Of _course_ he would!  The girl of his dreams…asking him to pick her up at the train station?  Of _course_!  So he wrote back:

"Sure!  I'd love to!  When are you arriving?  How will I know who you are?"

And Lily responded:

"Six o'clock this Saturday.  Thanks so much!  You'll know me by the white lily I'll wear."

For the next few days, James _lived_ for six o'clock on Saturday.  He went around in a daze, so much so that even his parents noticed."

"Darling, are you alright?" his mother would ask.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," James would respond distractedly.  _Lily is coming!_ he would think to himself all the while.

"The boy's in love, dear," his father would say.  "I walked around like that once…enamored of you."

His father would then take his mother around her waist and kiss her lovingly.  The Potters were indeed an affectionate couple.

*           *           *           *           *

Finally the day came.  Six o'clock on Saturday night.  James carefully chose out what he would wear, attempted to comb his ever-messy hair, put on some cologne, and went out, telling his parents that he was going out for dinner.

("Yes, darling," his mother had said.)

*           *           *           *           *

It was six o'clock sharp, and the train had not arrived yet.  James started to fret.  Perhaps she was now sitting comfortably in her friend's home, laughing at what a silly young man he was, to try and find her.  Or perhaps she had forgotten her lily.  Or perhaps she had decided she didn't want to get to know him after all and just called a taxi to get to her friend's house.  Or perhaps…

The train pulled up, and James heaved a sigh of relief.  Then he tensed up.  Nervously running his hands through his hair in another attempt to flatten it, he stood tall and watched as people descended.  The first to come out was an old man…no, that wasn't Lily, of course.  Then an old woman.  No, not her either.  A young man with his girlfriend.  A little girl and her mother.  An eccentric woman with her cat.  No.  None of these were Lily.

James stared off into space in the direction of the train for a while as people piled off, none of them wearing white lilies.

And then someone caught his eye.

A striking redhead descended onto the platform, her smooth, wavy hair cascading down her back, wearing a tiara of leaves woven together.  She wore a white tank top and simple blue jeans, showing off her hourglass figure at the height of 5'5".  Her creamy white skin contrasted sharply with her flaming hair and her piercing green eyes, which matched her brilliantly decorated trunk.  

She was gorgeous.  There was no other way to put it.  James watched her, open-mouthed, practically drooling.  This was what Sirius would have called "first rate material"—too bad he had a girlfriend already.  Arabella Figg was gorgeous, but this redhead…James felt as if he would follow her to the end of the world and beyond, that he would die for her.

But she wasn't wearing a white lily.  As she walked past him, she murmured, "Going my way?"

James swallowed hard.  "No."  He forced himself to turn his gaze back to the train as the girl walked away.

And then he saw her.

A tall girl, about 5'9" walked down from the train, her sweet brown eyes searching all over for someone.  Her long brown hair was tied up in a pony tail, hanging gracefully onto her back.  And she wore a white lily.

James liked her immediately, but didn't feel the strong attraction he had felt to the girl with the flaming red hair.  She could be a friend, but nothing more.  The letter Lily was his love, but the real Lily…could be no more than a friend.  Remus would like this girl though.  Just from the looks of her, she was probably the sweetest thing that walked on two legs.  And she looked as if she'd be understanding about werewolves.

James walked up to her and introduced himself.  "Hello, Lily, I'm James Potter.  Nice to meet you at last."  She smiled graciously, almost as if she were trying to suppress a laugh.  Uncertainly, he added, "Would you like to go have dinner with me?"

Her lips broke out into a genuine smile.

"That was the general idea."

"Oh…yeah…" James faltered.

"No, James, you've got it all confused," she said.

"Would you like to explain?  Now I'm even more confused."

"I'm not Lily.  My name is Rhia, and I'm one of Lily's two best friends, the other one being Arabella Figg.  The three of us have been best friends since age four, and that didn't stop when Lily and I both moved to France and attended Beauxbatons.  Now, Arabella and I both know that you and Lily have been writing letters back and forth to each other.  I found out when I saw a letter Lily accidentally dropped, and I told Arabella.  Sirius, incidentally, found out from you when you left a letter out in the open.  So Remus, Arabella, Sirius, and I all knew.  We decided to let things be and see how they turned out.  So, when Lily decided she wanted to meet you, we were delighted.  She asked Arabella to pick us up, but Arabella said she had a date, and why didn't you come with Lily too?  Lily agreed, but only if you passed a test.  This test.  You were to ask whoever wore the white lily to dinner, even if she was not the girl of your dreams.  And I'm not—no, don't deny it—I saw you gaping at Lily, salivating over her almost.  And you saw me, and your face fell, and you thought, 'she's only friend material.'  So there you go."

"Wow," James said when she had finished.  "So the redhead _was_ Lily?" 

"Yes.  Let's go find her."

They walked to the place where the wizard part of the train station ended, and the muggle part was about to begin.  There they found Sirius standing with his arm snugly around Arabella, the two surveying the scene.  Next to them was Remus, who, upon finding Rhia leapt at her and kissed her passionately.  

She returned this kiss and whispered, "I missed you so much!"  

"Same here," he replied.

And by the two couples stood Lily and James, two feet apart.

There was an uneasy silence between the two until Lily smiled.

"Nice to finally meet you," she said.

James couldn't say a word, his heart was bursting with love.

Finally he got out a "Nice to meet you too…Lily."

"Oh, cut it out you two!" Sirius yelled.  "You know you're head over heels in love with each other; it's really not even a question!  Just kiss and let's go eat; I'm hungry!"

The two needed no more encouraging.  James wrapped his arms around her and she put hers on his neck, and their lips met and stayed together for the longest time.  Again Sirius had to intervene.

"Let's go, everyone!"

He pulled the two lovers apart, and the whole group laughed.  Each couple linked arms and walked slowly towards the restaurant, under the setting sun.

A/N:  The end!  I hope you liked it…I'm going to write more stories…just don't know when.  And this one was rushed, I know, but I actually liked this chapter.

Thank you a lot to:

Musicizdbest 

Namiko of the Ocean

Emily Hardbottle

Elspeth Renee

Auriliayh Ayohna Esrodeyl

Gabschan

beauty7890102

MegHarts

If anyone has anything they want me to write, please drop me a line and I'll consider it.  I need a new story to write J.


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